Retrace
by blucross
Summary: Two years since the mission from Rouran, two years in which Naruto has lead Konoha in peaceful times as the Rokudaime. But with a new threat appearing, deaths are frequent; seals and theories flying, an experimental seal gone wrong might save the day. AU
1. Chapter 1

Hullo all. Recently (last night) I watched Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower, and fell in love with the movie (not surprising since its one of my fav animes ever). Anyway, I kinda didn't like how it left off ( a lot) and so this is kind of like a sequel to it that technically doesn't exist in the real world. So enjoy!

P.S., I'm not following canon much except for a few little facts, and it might help if you watched the movie, but its basically a time-travel (yay) fic featuring our two favorite blondes.

_Summary:_

_Its been two years since the return from Rouran, regaining memories of his past and locked away memories returning. And in that time, Naruto has become the Rokudaime and has surpassed all the Hokages, including the Yondaime. Life is good, and the village is leading a prosperous era under their new Hokage. But, life can't remain peaceful. A threat has appeared; a threat that could wipe out the Elemental Nations. With seals and theories flying through the masterminds of Konoha, an experiment gone wrong just might be the way to save the day. AU, time-travel. Based off of Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower. _

Disclaimer:I, sadly, can't claim this. All credit goes to the epic Masashi Kishimoto for creating this lovely manga/anime_._

Legend:

"This is blucross."- Talking

'This is blucross.'- Thinking

_This is jutsu being spoken/thought of_

0o0-0o0-0o0

Naruto ran a hand through his spiked hair; they were getting nowhere. The attacks by 'Shi no Eien'* were becoming more and more frequent as the days passed, the amount of time between the attacks shortening from months to weeks. To say the least, Naruto was stressed out; this unknown enemy had been causing havoc all across the Elemental Nations, killing key figures in the villages' economical and political infrastructure. He had, somehow, managed to kill Danzo, and while Naruto wasn't complaining about the old coot being killed, he didn't like the fact that Shi no Eien was able to sneak into his village under his ANBU's watch without being caught.

And that was why he was almost ripping his hair out in frustration. He couldn't figure out a way to capture and/or kill Shi. He'd gone through hundreds of theories and strategies, adding Fuuinjutsu into the mix to see if it could work or not. Unfortunately, he hadn't found the right combination for it to work smoothly enough where he could send his shinobi out.

Currently, you could find the Rokudaime Hokage in one of his favorite places in the village: the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. The blonde stared into his ramen as he thought about this crisis sweeping the Elemental Nations. Whoever this 'Shi no Eien' was, he was a dangerous threat, and not someone to be underestimated.

Sighing, Naruto mulled over a plan he had formed as he filled his mouth with a bite of his Miso Ramen. In his free time, Naruto had been creating a seal secretly, not informing anyone of its existence. The seal would allow him to freeze time, using chakra to determine the amount of time the seal would last. He still had to do a few minor adjustments to the seal to make it safe, but it should be up and running within the week. That was the easy part, compared to the rest of the plan.

The more difficult part would be getting out to use it; he would be damned if anyone but him test run this seal. He wasn't too sure of what would happen, but he certainly didn't want anyone getting caught in an unexpected side-affect that the seal may have. And that was where the problem lay: how could he get out to test-run the seal if one: he didn't have the time to, and two: if he wasn't allowed outside the village to test it? With the unknown threat on the loose, his ANBU were bent on making sure he stayed in the village at all times.

Sighing again (Naruto knew this wasn't good; he'd grow worry lines before his time), Naruto paid his bill, smiling at the Ichiraku's before heading back to the Hokage tower to take care of a little more paperwork before going home. He planned on going to bed early for once. If only he knew that he wouldn't be sleeping that night.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Sitting in his office chair, Naruto turned to look out the window, as he had seen his Jiji* do so many times. The sun was now setting, creating a beautiful view from his office that he loved watching, no matter how many times he had seen it before.

A knock at his door took Naruto out of thoughts of his Jiji and had him calling for the person to come in. The oak door opened, revealing his Head Strategist and Head Jounin, Nara Shikamaru. Smiling tiredly, Naruto turned to face the strategist all the way.

"What do you have for me, Shika?" Naruto asked, knowing that his childhood friend wouldn't have come at this time of day if it wasn't important.

"Take a look at this, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru informed him in a serious, yet slightly rushed tone, holding out a folder for his leader to take. Naruto became serious immediately, knowing that the information Shika had for him was deadly important, going by the tone of his voice.

Taking the folder, Naruto opened the folder and began to read. His eyebrows were slowly rising, and by the time he was finished, Naruto was surprised, and worried, by the information.

"Is this reliable?" Naruto asked his strategist, staring him straight in the eye. Shikamaru nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, this information is completely reliable. The source, while rather surprising, gave us this information that relates to past situation accurately and truthfully." Shikamaru responded, getting another raised eyebrow from Naruto as he found the source. The eyebrow dropped as a smirk appeared on his face. 'Just like his brother,' Naruto thought* before closing the folder to look up at his strategist once more.

"When do you predict the next attack will be?" Naruto asked, not liking it when Shikamaru tensed up.

"The next attack," Shika said, "is supposed be in thirty minutes, according to the information we've received." His strategist's features were taut with exhaustion and worry. 'With good reason,' Naruto thought as he signaled his ANBU Commander to come immediately.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" A panther-masked ANBU, his ANBU Commander, asked in a calm but slightly worried voice, their voice muffled by the voice modifiers in all ANBU masks. If Naruto hadn't known Hyou* for so long, he wouldn't have caught on to it, but seeing as how he did, Naruto began giving his orders immediately.

"Shi is to attack Konoha in less than half an hour," Naruto noticed Hyou tense up, but continued on, turning to Shikamaru for the first of his orders. "I need you to evacuate the villagers, genin and Academy students into the hide-outs, with an ANBU team as protection along with five Jounin and seven high-ranked Chuunin." Shikamaru nodded, leaving the office immediately, briefly saying to Hyou to assign Platoon 5 for the job as he left.

"Next, I want you and two of your strongest Squads to wait further instruction from me in the village square. Use the rest of the ANBU to round up scattered Jounin and Chuunin and have them report to Head Jounin Nara Shikamaru. Time is of the essence." A short nod later and his ANBU Commander was gone.

Naruto turned his chair to look at the setting sun once again; the sky was a blood red, and it represented the foreboding feeling that Naruto was having. Turning away, Naruto took off the hat that signified him as the Hokage and placed it on his desk. Within the blink of an eye, Naruto was gone.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Naruto reappeared in his bedroom at in the Namikaze Clan grounds. While it wasn't known throughout the village that Naruto was a Namikaze, Naruto, by blood, had the right to the clans ground ever since he figured out his parentage a little under two years ago, after returning from his mission in Rouran.

Going up to his night stand, Naruto pumped chakra through the seal to open the drawer. In the drawer there were important keepsakes that he always kept safe; the necklace he had received from his Tsunade-baa-chan; a scroll that contained an extensive amount of knowledge about sealing from the Uzumaki Clan as well as his father's own collection; a scroll that also contained numerous photos he had taken over the years (including many of his father, mother and his father's team); and most importantly (at the moment) the time-freeze seal. Naruto knew that it still needed a few tweaks and had yet to be test-run, this may be their only choice against the Shi no Eien.

Placing that on the counter, Naruto changed from his Hokage robes into the standard Jounin uniform, albeit a few changes. For one, he had red tape around his pant legs that went up a fourth of his calf on either leg (while he liked orange, he realized how bad that was for reconnaissance missions). His Jounin vest had a special symbol on the right side of the vest, indicating that he was the current Hokage in the village. Plus, the Uzumaki swirl found on the upper right-hand corner of the Jounin vest was instead in the middle, and much larger, taking up a good amount of space in the middle of his back. Stopping to take a look in the mirror, Naruto smiled sadly as he saw how much he resembled his father when he had gone on the mission back in Rouran.

Turning away from the mirror, Naruto place his kunai pouch on his left leg and his sealing pouch on the right. Taking the scrolls and the necklace, he sealed them in a spot right above his left year; it was an excellent place to hide his possessions, he thought, and that included his sake collection he had inherited from his baa-chan.

Smiling lightly to himself, Naruto looks around his bedroom, knowing that he might not return. With a last glance around the room, Naruto disappears in the blink of an eye.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Appearing in the village square, Naruto grabs the attention of his ANBU shinobi.

"Tonight," Naruto began in a serious voice, "is the night where the Shi no Eien may be defeated. It may also be the night where he triumphs. Whatever happens, know that I was proud to serve as your Rokudaime." Naruto smiled at the group of ANBU, knowing who each of them are.

No more was said as Naruto faced the entrance to the village, seeing the lone person approach. With the foreboding feeling coming back in full force, Naruto prepared for another battle of his life.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Naruto was breathing heavily; but he was pleased to note that Shi was breathing hard as well. Standing up straight, Naruto surveyed his surroundings; the ANBU who had been with him at the beginning were starting to weary- the shield they had brought up had absorbed all the attacks that had been fired between the two adversaries. The pressure was intense, and it drained their chakra to keep it up. At this point, Naruto knew he needed to end it, and soon. It was at that point where Naruto sensed the sudden increase in chakra and turned to Shi to see, with growing horror, that he was using a deadly jutsu, and aiming it right towards his ANBU Commander.

Rushing towards the jutsu as it was shot towards Hyou, Naruto reached into his Fuuinjutsu pouch to retrieve his time-freeze seal. Pumping chakra into it, Naruto threw it onto the ground, right underneath the jutsu. The jutsu stopped in its tracks, and Naruto grinned inwardly at the success of his seal. But that soon disappeared as a light began to shine, and Naruto's eyes widened a fraction in surprise before settling in a resigned smile. The reaction between the seal and the jutsu would most likely kill him; he was glad he managed to place the seal in time so Hyou wouldn't get hurt.

Looking towards his ANBU, his friends, his smile was shown to them. He could hear the shouts and cries of surprise coming from the two squads. There was one of anguish, and Naruto knew who exactly it came from. Facing his ANBU Commander, Naruto gave a two-fingered salute with a lop-sided grin.

As the light consumed him, Naruto noticed a few things; for one thing, Shi had disappeared. 'Why am I not surprised?' Naruto mused to himself dryly.

The second thing he noticed, before the light became too bright, was a distinct female voice calling his name. Naruto grinned at his ANBU Commander, his teammate ever since they had graduated from the Academy.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, her voice fading as the white light completely surrounded the Rokudaime Hokage.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Blinking to clear his vision, Naruto looked around to try and figure out where in Kami-sama's name he was. There were a bunch of trees, so he assumed he was in a forest somewhere. 'It seems familiar,' Naruto thought as he surveyed his surroundings again, 'but why?' After standing there for a while, Naruto decided nothing would come of just standing there. So, he started walking down south of the path he was on.

For how long he walked, Naruto didn't know, as the fight against Shi had taken a lot out of him, but he was still able to sense his surroundings and was prepared when he felt four presences- which seemed like shinobi, surround him.

Reaching for a kunai, Naruto held one up in defense as he felt the four shinobi close in on him. And as he felt their chakra signatures, his eyes widened a fraction.

Putting his kunai by his side, Naruto watched as the people who he had seen two years ago stop in front of him.

"Well isn't this a surprise," Naruto supplied amiably as he stared at the shinobi in front of him.

Standing before him was one Akimichi Chouza, Aburame Shibi, (a smaller-sized) Hatake Kakashi and Namikaze Minato.

0o0-0o0-0o0

And there ya go! How'd you like it? (I hope you did. If you didn't, that'd be real detrimental to my already low self-esteem). If ya like it, please review!

*Shi no Eien- Death Eternal. It took me forever to find a name to give this guy.

*Jiji- Old Man, I believe its translated to in English. Its what Naruto would call the Sandaime Hokage, except in Japanese rather that American.

*Hyou- Panther, in case some of you didn't know that. I read a fic, and it took me forever to find out that "Hyou" meant "Panther" in English. I felt really stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

Um, wow? Holy garbanzo beans? Schnitzel? The amount of favorites, story alerts (and some author alerts, too!) is like totally out of this world! Mucho appreciated. And doubly thanks for those who reviewed this chapter! (You know who you are!) I really appreciate it. Makes me wonder if I was destined to write Naruto stories with the outcomes I've been getting…

Anyway, enough of my twittering! Onward with this joyous story!

Disclaimer:I, sadly, can't claim this. All credit goes to the epic Masashi Kishimoto for creating this lovely manga/anime_._

Legend:

"This is blucross."- Talking

'This is blucross.'- Thinking

_This is jutsu being spoken/thought of_

0o0-0o0-0o0

"Fancy meeting you here," Naruto commented dryly, observing the expressions of those before him with an amused glance. Based on the states they were in, it was obvious that they were just coming back from the mission that Naruto had come back from over two years ago.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Ah, that was definitely Hatake Kakashi. Overly uptight as a teenager.

"Who am I? Who are you? And why are you here? I was here first." Naruto asked, knowing this would get a rise out of his future sensei.

"Don't mock me!" Kakashi shouted, his eyes narrowing and anger lining his voice.

"Maa, maa Kakashi. Its obvious who he is," Minato appeased the younger teen, a rueful smirk appearing on his face. "No one can be that much of an idiot to ask that question."

"I resent that!" Naruto argued, getting worked up himself. Who would've thought that he, Naruto, would be riled up from a guy that was technically dead, his father no less.'*

"If you really are who we think you are," continued Kakashi, ignoring what his sensei had said, "then what mission are we coming back from?"

"You are coming back from the mission at Rouran." Naruto replied easily, the drain from his fight against Shi no Eien** starting to wear up on him as the adrenaline from being surrounded left him.

Kakashi stared at Naruto with a searching look, as if trying to make sure that Naruto was who he really was. Naruto let him, knowing that the teenager wouldn't be appeased until he did so.

"Alright," Kakashi relented after a while. "I believe you are who you say you are. But you still haven't answered my other question: what are you doing here?" The older Jounin, having stayed silent as their youngest squad member interrogated the younger blonde, looked at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto, for the most part, wasn't up to the talk, physically or mentally. After the use of the seal, as well as the fight with Shi, Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to walk for a long while.

"You know, this and that, that and this," Naruto replied, not really giving an answer. But then again, what fun would there be if he couldn't rile the younger version of his sensei, the one who had done the same thing to him during his early Genin days?

"Now Naruto," Minato chided, using Naruto's name for the first time, "this is serious; we only just saw you tow days ago, and here you are, dressed up completely different from before, and looking like you've been dragged through hell and back." 'Well, that's one way to describe it,' Naruto thought amusedly, looking at each of the Jounin.

Naruto blinked, though, as he felt something land lightly on his shoulder. Looking downwards, Naruto saw the small bug, and looked back up, glaring half-heartedly at the Aburame.

"That's not very nice, stealing information from me like that," Naruto chided as the bug went back to report his findings his master.

"I must say that I'm quite surprised, Naruto-san," Aburame Shibi stated, looking at the blonde before him. "With the exhaustion level you're at, its quite surprising that you're still conscious."

'Gah,' Naruto thought, inwardly shuddering. 'Now I know where Shino gets it from. The saying "The apple never falls far from the tree." fits those two to a tee.'

"Exhaustion?" Minato asked, scrutinizing Naruto, who slightly fidgeted. It was true though; he hadn't felt this type of exhaustion since he had fought Pein, and that was something. Maybe he was Pein reincarnated…

"I'm fine," Naruto lied with a fake smile, which he knew that Minato, as well as the rest of the squadron, could see through. It was just then he felt himself lurching to the left, only to be stopped from hitting the ground by something big, warm, and oddly enough, safe.

"Fine my butt, Naruto," Minato replied, though his voice was starting to get a little blurry for Naruto. "Its alright Naruto," Minato continued in a soft, gentler voice that lulled Naruto into a sense of security. "Just sleep; I won't let anything happen to you."

Believing the words spoken to him, Naruto gave way to his exhaustion, letting the darkness come over.

0o0-0o0-0o0

The next time Naruto was conscious, he was riding on the back of his father. Noticing that his breathing was starting to differ from the soft breaths it was when he was asleep, Minato greeted the boy.

"Morning," Minato said cheerfully, one of those rare few who seemed to be a morning person.

"G'morning," Naruto replied, yawning widely. He heard chuckles coming from either side of the aforementioned blonde, which he assumed to be Akimichi Chouza.

"How did you sleep?" The Akimichi asked in a friendly tone which Naruto knew he liked immediately.

"Better than I have in months," Naruto admitted, thinking back on the past couple of months; with Shi on the loose, he had lost a lot of sleep to make sure that his village was protected enough so the villagers wouldn't have to worry at night. Plus, he had made some for Suna as well; he knew Gaara was feeling the same pressure he was.

"And why is that?" Minato asked, and Naruto, having been reading emotions for years, knew that the older blonde's curiosity was only a cover up for the worry that slightly leaked through his voice.

"This and that, that and this," Naruto gave his father the same response he had given Kakashi earlier.

Minato simply laughed at Naruto's reply, knowing that the younger male wouldn't have given him a straight answer.

"Well, that must've been a lot of 'this', and a boat load of 'that'," Minato retorted, and in turn, Naruto laughed as well.

"Yes, it certainly was," Naruto replied. Trying to move his arms, Naruto winced at the pain shooting through them. "Ow," he said.

"'Ow' is right, young man," Minato scolded Naruto, making said person blink. "You have the audacity to say you're fine when you've nearly depleted all your chakra, which I might add is a helluva lot, not to mention all the bruises, cuts, and lacerations you have along your body. Plus, there are minor fractions in your ribcage, arms and left leg."

Naruto blinked. Had he been that beaten up? Sure, he knew he was running low on chakra (now knowing that it was because of the time-traveling. 'Stupid seal,' he thought to himself.) and that he was sore in a lot of places, but he didn't think it was _that_ bad.

"Its lucky for you that I knew some medical jutsus to help you." Minato- who had still been talking while Naruto was thinking of his predicament- finished, most likely waiting for an answer from the blonde on his back.

"Ah, thanks," Naruto replied with -barely noticeable- nervous chuckles.

"Is that all you have to say?" Minato raged in fury, surprising everyone in the group. They had never seen the blonde genius so worked up about anyone's health, even his own genin teams'. Just how important was this boy to Minato?

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Minato continued ranting, becoming even more worked up. Why had Naruto just stood there, acting as if nothing was wrong? "We would've helped you!"

Naruto grew more and more irritated at the man's words. "I've never had anyone like that!" He snapped, all the years of sadness, loneliness and pain bursting out subtly in that one sentence.

As soon as those words had left Naruto's mouth, Minato shut up immediately. Naruto never had anyone like that as he grew up? No one to make sure he was eating properly, to rely on when he was in trouble or hurt? Minato felt terrible at that moment, realizing what he had said was rather inconsiderate, even if he hadn't known that information before.

The tension in the group was thick enough to cut with a knife, and it stayed that way until they reached the imposing gates of Konoha. It was there that Naruto saw what could be a brown-haired version of Sakura. The way she pounced on Kakashi for not telling her that he had a mission, and leaving suddenly was rather rude.

"Remind you of anyone?" Minato asked quietly, as to not garner the attention of the kunzite medic-nin.

"Yeah," Naruto replied, using the same level of voice. "My Genin teammate, Sakura. Really nice if you're her friend, but scary as hell if you're on her bad side. Has a mean sucker punch and hits as hard as Tsunade, if not harder." At that statement, both blondes flinched at the same time, both shuddering at the thought of someone actually being able to hit harder than Tsunade. It wasn't a pretty thought.

"Oh my gosh!" Rin exclaimed, making the two blondes tense, as if knowing they were her next targets, which they were. "Minato-sensei, when did you get a twin?"

At that statement both blondes snorted, thinking of the irony of her statement. They were as close as that, but as far away in the same respect. Naruto was like a mini-me of his father with slightly wider eyes and his mother's addiction to ramen and loud, vibrant personality.

Unfortunately, this put the attention on the two blondes and their position, as Naruto was riding on Minato's back, seeing as how he had been asleep until an hour ago.

"Who are you?" One of the Chuunin at the gate post asked. Naruto noted with a slight frown that they were more terse and stricter than they were in his time. 'Speaking of which, what time am I in?' Naruto wondered, putting that question away until he had time to ask Minato.

"He's my twin little brother, Namikaze Naruto." Minato replied smoothly, having had prepared for this while Naruto was asleep.*** Everyone in their group knew it wasn't true, but he trusted them enough to know that they wouldn't spill the information.

"Is that so?" The same Chuunin asked, still skeptical.

Naruto nodded sagely, to the amusement of those watching. "It is. I ran into Aniki* and his squad while they were returning from their mission. Aniki is a bit daft- which I apologize for- and sometimes, as I've learned over the past few days, will forget to give out somewhat important information."

At the insult Minato knew he was receiving, he swiped the back of his head, trying to hit Naruto. Said target deftly dodged the swipe, causing Minato to his own head. Naruto snickered at the pain his father had caused himself, while others watching did their best to hide their amusement. Being on the bad side of one Namikaze Minato would have him retaliate in the form of pranks, whilst, being funny to the viewer, were most definitely not to the person pranked.

For the most part, the Chuunin at the gate post now seemed satisfied at the explanation given by the Jounin and his twin little brother, and let the pass through.

"Alright, we'll meet up with you for ramen in an hour, after we're done reporting our mission to Sandaime-sama," Minato told his female student, who nodded, knowing at the very least that Minato was the leader of the mission they had returned from.

"Hai,* Sensei! I'll see you then!" The cheerful medic-nin then went off, trying to find something to amuse her for another hour before she could speak to her Sensei and teammate.

"Now that that's taken care of," Minato said, causing Naruto to snicker again, "let's go report to Sandaime-sama. He'll understand your situation once you explain it, I'm sure." Minato whispered the last sentence in a lower voice so that only the squad who had gone on the mission- and Naruto, who was on Minato's back- could hear.

The other Jounin nodded, before heading to the Hokage Tower at a leisurely pace, knowing that what was going to happen next would take a long while.

0o0-0o0-0o0

And there you have it! Chapter two all nice and done for ya.

*If anyone can find out that bit of irony, I'd love to hear from you. If not, well, I expect this more than the previous idea. Its rather hard to understand, even for me. ^-^"

**As said in previous chappie, Shi no Eien= Death Eternal.

***I'm not sure exactly how old Minato is, so I'm going to guess he's about 22-24 years old. If anyone does know how old he is at this time, please let me know.

*Aniki=Elder Brother (the cooler way to say Onii-san, I think xD)

*Hai=Yes

Thanks for reading! And please PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are food for my mind. The more I get, the more that comes out in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Yo! I'm back! And a lot sooner than my other updates, too. xD Anyways, sorry for it being late, but here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Pigs will be flying before that happens. But then, what does that make H1N1? Hmm…

Legend:

"This is blucross."- Talking

'This is blucross.'- Thinking

_This is jutsu being spoken/thought of_

0o0-0o0-0o0

The Squad led under Minato made their way into the Hokage Tower. Naruto saw how everyone greeted his dad and couldn't help but feel somewhat sad. 'If I look so similar to my dad now, and even more so in the future, that must mean the villagers were truly blind and truly hated me.' The blonde suppressed a shudder as the memories of his childhood tried to take over. Shaking his head slightly, he realized that their group had already reached the Hokage's office. Making a move to get off his 'Aniki's' back, he was stopped when said 'Aniki' wouldn't let go of his legs. Looking to Minato, Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Is there a reason you're not letting me go?" Naruto asked, trying to pry his legs out of Minato's grip. Minato merely smiled at him, keeping a firm grip on him.

"If I let go of you," Minato said, "you just might try to escape the explanation that you're going to be giving us in Hokage-sama's office."

Naruto sweat-dropped, realizing what his father was saying. He supposed he would at any other time, but not now; he was still tired, and he doubted he would be up and running at his full capacity until tomorrow.

"You really think I would?" Naruto asked his father with a slightly incredulous look. "Does it look like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon?"

Naruto watched as his father sweat-dropped with a sheepish look on his face, while the others, save for Kakashi, laughed.

"Ah, I see you've arrived back safely, Minato." Sarutobi Hiruzen, the current Hokage, said from the now open door, announcing his presence.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Minato replied, only nodding since Naruto was on his back. With this, though, Sarutobi noticed Naruto's presence.

"And who might this be?" Sarutobi asked, looking at Naruto curiously.

"Actually, Hokage-sama," Chouza stated, garnering the Hokage's attention, "he is part of the report."

"Oh really?" Sarutobi asked, his eyebrow raising slightly. It was obvious to Naruto that the Hokage wasn't buying it.

"Why don't we go into the office then?" Minato suggested, making his way into the office of the current Hokage.

Entering the Hokage's office brought back memories for Naruto, memories good and bad. Directing his father to the couch in the corner of the office, Naruto laid there, mentally reminding himself to make sure there was a new one back in his office; this was the same one from his time, and if it's been here this long, it's way over do for a replacement.

"Well now, since we've all made ourselves comfortable," Sarutobi announced, the shinobi in the room looking at him, "why don't we start with the report. Minato?" Said man nodded, and began his explanation.

"Our mission was successful Hokage-sama…" began Minato as he recapped all the details of the mission, leaving the parts where Naruto had participated out. "…and the Princess, along with Rouran, is safe."

The Hokage nodded. "Excellent. But, what does this young man have to do with the report? You did say he had a part in the report."

Chouza nodded, looking to Minato, who nodded as well. Minato looked to the Hokage, who rose an eyebrow expectantly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama, now if you will turn on your-"

"Hold on," Naruto interrupted Minato as everyone turned to look at him. While Minato and the rest of the squad were reporting to Sarutobi, Naruto hadn't just sat there. No, he had taken some of Minato's scrolls and ink to create one of his privacy seals.

"Use this one," Naruto handed his freshly drawn seal to the man next to him, who studied it. Naruto watched as Minato's eyes widened in surprise at the seal before handing to Sarutobi.

"This is a very effective seal, Hokage-sama," Minato reported, clearly impressed. This, Naruto noted, piqued the interest of the Hokage greatly.

"Yep, it is," Naruto said, smiling lightly, "and that old war hawk won't be able to hear anything. By the way, your privacy seal is faulty." Naruto paused briefly as Sarutobi activated the seal, and watched idly as the seal covered the room in a light blue before fading slightly.

"What do you mean by that?" Sarutobi asked, a frown marring his still young face.

"Danzo's goons have messed with it while you weren't around," Naruto replied, absently twirling a lock of his hair. "He can hear anything that it said, even through your privacy seal. It'd be best to get a new one."

"And how would you know?" Sarutobi asked, a sharp edge to his voice.

"Because," Naruto replied, looking up to the Hokage with eyes of steel, "I know everything about this office."

"And how would you know everything about this office?" Minato asked, the tone of his voice layered with suspicion. Naruto sighed, shaking his head at his father, who narrowed his eyes.

"When we were traveling back towards Konoha, did you ever think about going through my scrolls? My clothes?" Naruto asked, dropping the genjutsu that covered the insignia of the Hokage of the Leaf to be seen by all in the room. A collective gasp, though not very loud, was heard by Naruto as he observed the expressions of Chouza, Shinichi, Minato, Kakashi and Sarutobi.

"That would explain it," Minato explained, a light blush appearing on his face, being properly chastised by Naruto.

"Yes," Naruto replied, though he was now in a less than happy mood. This was probably the reason why so many enemies were able to sneak in to Konoha during the Shinobi World Wars. 'I'll have to change that,' Naruto thought to himself.

"When we last saw you at Rouran, you didn't have that." Kakashi noted, his only shown eye narrowing slightly. "For that matter, you weren't even wearing a Jounin vest. Why is that?"

"This is why he became a Jounin so young," Naruto muttered to himself, cursing his future sensei. Minato, who was next to him, raised an eyebrow. Naruto sighed, scratching the side of his head.

"It's complicated," Naruto replied, and it was. Only a few days after he had returned from the Rouran mission, Naruto had been ordered to take up the mantle of the Hokage. While he had always wanted to be the Hokage, he himself thought it might've been too soon; but he wasn't given a choice on the matter, Tsunade only saying that certain things had happened and she was no longer able to be the Hokage. Eventually it was explained to him, and he didn't like it one bit.

"By the way," Naruto said, turning to his father, "you really need to work on your memory seal. Jiraiya put up seals all over the village that wiped away memory seals. I remembered as soon as I walked through the gates of Konoha."

Naruto watched with bemusement as his father blinked, and then scrunched up his forehead thinking. Naruto snorted inwardly; it was the exact same thing he'd do whenever he was thinking of something, or so his lackeys told him. He snickered at that; he knew Sakura would've bashed him in the head if he had said that, Hokage or not.

"Ah, that would make sense…" Sarutobi looked to Naruto for a name.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied evenly, smirking at the reactions he was watching.

"You're Kushina's son?" Sarutobi asked with an somewhat incredulous voice.

"I've been told that I've mellowed out a bit over the years, but I was a down-right prankster during my Academy days." Naruto replied, remembering the days in the Academy.

"And that means your father is…?" Sarutobi asked, looking towards Minato, who nodded. Sarutobi nodded.

"To keep him safe, we are using the guise of twin brothers, though I am a couple of years older." Minato stated, looking at his son fondly.

"I understand who you are, Naruto, but I still do not understand why you are a part of the mission report, and more importantly, if you are from the future, _how _you arrived here."

"In the report, Aniki said that his squad was working on stopping Mukade's army, and that they succeeded. But did they tell you who actually stopped Mukade?" Naruto asked, smirking when Sarutobi's eyes widened.

"You defeated Mukade?" Sarutobi asked, reaffirming what he had just been told. Naruto just nodded, liking how he stunned his grandfather figure into silence.

"Well, that certainly is one reason why you became the Hokage. I don't believe it was an easy task to accomplish." Sarutobi said, understanding more as the pieces of the puzzle came into place.

"It wasn't too bad. I was a bit tired, sure, but I've been through worse." Naruto replied, thinking of the past battles he's had with Akatsuki members. Mukade really wasn't as tough as the missing-nins, though he was powerful.

"I assume now, Naruto that you will be staying with Minato and Kushina?" Sarutobi questioned, receiving a nod from Naruto.

"Very well then, all of you are dismissed. Your mission pay will be ready tomorrow morning." Sarutobi dismissed the squad, but held Naruto back for just a bit. "You still wish to be a shinobi of Konoha, correct?" Sarutobi asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Alright then, in a few days I will have some of my Jounin test you to place your level so that we can rank you. Though you are Hokage in your future, it would be suspicious if you were just given a rank without being tested." Sarutobi explained to Naruto, who nodded again. He knew what he would have to do; in his time, there were people applying to be a shinobi of Konoha, and he would have to do various tests in order to rank them.

"Anything else, Jiji?" Naruto asked easily, using his informal name for the Sandaime. Sarutobi merely sighed at the name, but shook his head negatively.

"You are dismissed, Naruto. I will see you in a couple of days." Sarutobi dismissed the boy. Walking out of the door, Naruto smirked inwardly; he hadn't grown rusty on his evasion skills after all.

0o0-0o0-0o0

There it is! Sooo sorry for this being late, but I've been incredibly busy with school, homework and general life that I haven't been able to update as often as I would like. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often. I promise though, Second Life is the next to be updated.

Later!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN at bottom.**

Legend:

"This is blucross."- Talking

'This is blucross.'- Thinking

_This is jutsu being spoken/thought of_

0o0-0o0-0o0

The walk to Minato's house was relaxing, if somewhat noisy. When Naruto had been carried through the gates on his father's back, he was able to get a somewhat clear idea as to how his father was treated by the citizens of Konoha, shinobi and villager alike. It was clearer, though, as he was walking through the streets of Konoha with his father and Chouza- Shinichi needed to return his clan and Kakashi went wherever he went when he had free time- that the villagers got on exceptionally well with his father. Truly, it really made him wonder as to the characters of Konoha as a whole; if the villagers were this amiable now, back in the past, why were they so different later on? Was it possible that Madara had placed a genjutsu on the villagers and shinobi to make them hate him as a child? It would fit the characteristics of his childhood tormentors; if they saw his father as a figure to be respected now, then there must have been something to change their thoughts on him. Most likely, Madara had used the distraction of the Kyuubi attack to place the genjutsu, using its chakra to help reinforce the genjutsu.

Naruto sighed, bringing up his hand to ruffle his hair, a habit he had, apparently, inherited from his father. It was curious, he thought to himself, that he was so much like his parents despite growing up as an orphan. 'I wonder what it would've been like to grow up with Minato and Kushina,' Naruto thought idly, giving a grin and a shake of his head when Minato asked him if he cared what they were having for dinner tonight. He inwardly chuckled, 'It probably would've been cheaper.'

"Hey Naruto?" Naruto was snapped out of his musings when Minato called his name. He looked to his father, blinking when he saw concern on his face.

"What's up, Aniki?" Naruto asked, slipping into the role of a little brother far easier than he should have.

"Are you all right?" Minato asked, worry lacing his voice tangibly. Naruto cocked his head to the side; had he done something to give away his low chakra levels?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Naruto replied easily, not entirely sure where his father was going with this.

"You've been pretty quiet. If what you're saying about having your mom's personality is true, then you're either tired, brooding about something or bottling up emotions. That's generally how Kushina is." Minato looked Naruto straight in the eyes as he said this, most likely to make sure Naruto was telling the truth when he spoke. Naruto had to give props to his dad though; most people wouldn't have picked up on it that quickly, his mask always showing a carefree, happy-go-lucky type of guy. Then again, he was around Kushina a lot, and he had inherited her personality.

Regardless of his father's insight, Naruto still slid his mask into place; while he was enjoying the chance to be able to interact with his father, he still didn't fully trust the man. Too many betrayals had shot him, and the last one almost broke him completely.

"Nah, I'm all right. Really, there's nothing to be concerned about." Naruto smiled a wide smile that soon turned to a slight frown as he dodged Minato's grab at him.

"Oi, what're you doing?" Naruto asked, dodging his father's hands once again.

"I'm not buying your act, Naruto. While your mask is very good, I'm good friends with Inoichi." Minato replied, lunging at Naruto again, this time with his body.

Naruto blinked. 'Well shit,' Naruto thought, twirling around his father's outstretched arms, 'forgot all about him. Scary man, that one is.' Naruto remembered the first time he had met Inoichi; he swore that man was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed version of Hiashi.

Jumping backwards, Naruto landed lightly on his feet. He had to admit, it was pretty funny watching his father try to grab hold of him, though he wasn't sure as to how serious his father was. If the look on his face was anything to go by, though, his father was pretty serious about it. Looking around, Naruto saw the villagers and occasional shinobi watch with interest as he managed to evade capture of the man's arms every time.

Back flipping onto a wall, Naruto ran up backwards, a technique he had learned, surprisingly enough, from Neji. When he had asked about it, Neji informed him about Lee's tendencies to run up walls while he was in a fight, and had been told it was beneficial in a fight, especially against a taijutsu prodigy such as Lee. Kami knew that technique had saved his hide more than once with the element of surprise it brought, and it was no different now.

Running up the wall, Naruto snickered slightly at the dumbfounded look on his father's face. Apparently, his father couldn't do that.

"That's not fair!" Minato cried out while Chouza threw his head back and laughed. Naruto grinned from the roof of the building he was standing on before dashing away, hearing Minato's curses behind him. It was a good day for a light workout, anyway.

0o0-0o0-0o0

Whenever Kakashi was feeling somber, he would make his way to the memorial stone and talk to his deceased teammate, Obito.

"I'm back, Obito," Kakashi greeted, sitting cross-legged in silence as he thought about the war. "I met an interesting person today, Obito. He looks a lot like Sensei, twins if I'm correct." Kakashi knew that Naruto was actually his sensei's son, but he wasn't about to say that in public. "He's pretty strong, too. It kinda makes you wonder what he had to go through to get it."

"Nothing exciting, I can assure you." A voice appeared above Kakashi, startling the teenaged jounin. Looking up, he saw that the subject of his conversation was sitting up high on a tree branch in the tree next to the memorial stone.

"Konnichiwa, Naruto-san," Kakashi greeted, knowing that Naruto was his better. Naruto jumped from the tree branch, landing silently on the ground. Kakashi noticed that no extra moves were expended, showing of the training he was put through.

"Naruto's fine, Kakashi. We're friends, right?" Naruto replied, giving Kakashi a sideways glance and a smile. The silver-haired shinobi noted that it was, unlike many he had received, sincere.

"Hn," Kakashi replied amiably, idly watching as Naruto sat next to him, his knees drawn to his chest. They sat in a companionable, if not slightly polite, silence until Kakashi went back to the topic he was at beforehand.

"If you don't mind me asking, Naruto-san," Kakashi grinned at the slight pout that formed on the blonde's face, "how did you jump to ground soundlessly?" He had to admit, he was curious as to how the blonde had made his way to the ground without sound; it would be something worthwhile to learn. That is, if the blonde teenager taught him.

"Ahh, it's slightly difficult, considering that I'm using my main element to help silence my drop." Naruto responded, and Kakashi tipped his head to the side, his eyes most likely showing confusion. "I'm aligned with Wind," Naruto replied, slightly amused at the confusion of the younger shinobi.

"Like sensei?" Kakashi murmured, seeing another connection between his sensei and the teen next to him.

"Yep, like Aniki." Naruto said. "I suppose you'd want to know how to do it without using Wind though, wouldn't you?" Kakashi nodded, warming up to the teenager quickly; it appeared that he had found a kindred soul in the blonde next to him, though he wasn't going to ask how that came to be.

"What you do is, when jumping from the tree- or any surface for that matter- channel a light amount of chakra to the soles of your footwear. If done correctly, you should land on the gravel laying on the ground, not the ground itself." Naruto, it seemed to Kakashi, would make a very good jounin sensei.

Nodding in understanding, Kakashi filed the information away for later, planning on practicing it later.

"In a way," Naruto continued on, absently twiddling with his thumbs, "it can also be used as an exercise; either with control or building up your reserves." At Kakashi's curious look, the blonde continued. "It's not as easy as it appears to be; I've known med-nin's who use it in order to practice their chakra control. I had this one friend who practiced it when she was younger; her reserves weren't that big, you see, and so she had to-" Naruto paused in mid-sentence, coking his head to the side.

"Ahh, sorry Kakashi, I got to run; while it was nice chatting with you, I was originally playing cat and mouse with Aniki. You can see how that was going," a mischievous smirk painted the blonde's face. "We'll continue this conversation later, yeah?" At Kakashi's nod, the young jounin watched as the blonde stood up- winking as he did so- and silently jumped back to his branch before making his way westwards of where the memorial stone was, going ninety degrees west of where Kakashi could now sense his sensei coming. Cooling his features into a mask of slight solemnity, he turned his head when his sensei landed on the ground besides him. Minato-sensei, Kakashi noted, made noise when he landed on the ground.

"Hey Kakashi-kun," Minato greeted him, a warm, yet weary smile. "By any chance, did Naruto pass by you?"

"Gomen, sensei," Kakashi replied without hesitation, "Naruto-san hasn't been by as far as I'm aware."

"I see," Minato said, looking disappointed. "I'll see you in a little while, then." Minato said, reminding Kakashi that they had to go meet Rin.

"Aa," Kakashi replied, watching as his sensei ran off, presumably after his wayward son. Sitting in silence, Kakashi listened to the forest as it sang its harmonies, thinking about his sensei's son. Naruto-sa-no, Naruto, he decided, would be a good friend to have.

0o0-0o0-0o0

**Hello everyone, I'm pretty sure you thought I was dead. Alas, I'm still hear, alive and kicking. I'd like to apologize, as I know I have not updated ANY of my stories in a long time. I've been going through a rather depressing patch of depression- and writer's block- that I, hopefully, have gotten over. I should be back to updating on a more regular basis (I hope) and would like to thank all of you for supporting this story thus far. I know it's been a while since I've updated, and I appreciate every single one of you who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. Truth be told, with all the emails I've been getting as of late for the story and favorite alerts, I believe that to be what got me kicking again, so I thank you once more.**

**Now, onto better topics, what'd you think of the interaction between Minato and Naruto, and Kakashi and Naruto? I myself liked how the two teens interacted with each other. If you want interaction of characters with other characters brought up in this story, just leave a review with an idea; ideas are always welcome. ^-^**

**Please drop a review, they're always welcome!**

**Smell ya later,**

**blucross**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, minna… Sorry for not updating in a super-de-duper time, but, well… Meh. Either way, a new chappie!**

**Onwards with the story!**

0o0-0o0-0o0

Legend:

"This is blucross."- Talking

'This is blucross.'- Thinking

_This is jutsu being spoken/thought of_

0o0-0o0-0o0

Naruto had to admit it: he hadn't had this much fun in quite a while. For some reason (that could probably be blamed on sadistic senseis), he was enjoying the game of cat and mouse with his father; it was really quite amusing to see Minato failing in catching his son.

As soon as he had heard Minato coming for him back at the Memorial Stone, he had made a quick getaway, quietly but quickly making his way back to the village. Walking along, he waved hi to the villagers as they greeted him; by now, the rumor that Namikaze Minato had a brother (or at least had someone who looked a lot like him) had spread through the village to the point that everybody was treating him as though he were a beloved member of the village. He tried to ignore it, but the memories of his childhood would slip into his thoughts every so often. Sometimes, he really did wonder what his life would have been like had his father or mother lived that night. Would he have been treated as Sasuke had, like royalty, or would his father have had the villagers treat him like a normal kid from a shinobi family?

Naruto shook that line of thought out of his head; it wouldn't do for him to think like that. The past was the past, and he was proud of who he was and what he had achieved.

With a small smile, he checked his watch and saw that it was about time to meet up with Rin at Ichiraku's. He idly wondered how long it would take for his father to give up and head to Ichiraku's as well. It'd be interesting to see if he had inherited a double dosage of stubbornness from his parents, or if it was just part of the Uzumaki genes.

He was happy to see that he wasn't the first to arrive at Ichiraku's; he wasn't sure what he would have said if it was found that he was the first one to arrive when he had only been in the village for a day. Thankfully, Rin was already there, and surprisingly, so was Kakashi. So, Naruto happily made his way over to the two.

"…and who was that boy with you and Minato-sensei, Kakashi-kun?" Naruto heard Rin ask Kakashi, and he had to hold back a snort; she and Sakura sounded so similar it was infinitely amusing.

"Namikaze Naruto, at your service," Naruto made a short bow as he came up to the table where Rin and Kakashi were sitting, sending what he knew was a charming smile to the girl. Kakashi gave a snort of amusement, but Rin blushed slightly, smiling sheepishly.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto-san, I'm Rin," she said, holding out her hand to Naruto, who shook it with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you too, Rin, though Naruto's just fine," Naruto replied.

"Where's Minato-sensei?" Rin asked, giving Naruto a curious look. "I thought the two of you were together.

"We were, but one thing led to another and… Oh, yabbe*. Kakashi, let me sit on the inside of the booth." Naruto didn't give Kakashi any time to complain as he hopped over the young shinobi just as his father entered the restaurant. He looked around to find his team, smiling when he saw them, and made his way over to them.

"Hey Rin, Kakashi-kun, have you seen- aah! Naruto!" Minato greeted his students before seeing the blonde mop that belonged to Naruto.

"Yo, Aniki," Naruto gave his brother a sheepish grin.

"Don't 'Yo' me! Where have you been?" Minato asked, "I've been looking all over the village for you!"

"Hahaha, sorry Aniki, I got lost on the road of life," Naruto replied, not being able to resist saying his sensei's line, for, at that moment, Rin was taking a sip of water. Upon hearing Obito's classic excuse line, she choked on her water, spraying it all over Kakashi's face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Kakashi-kun!" Rin exclaimed, frantically trying to dry off Kakashi, who was growing more and more annoyed by the second. Naruto was quietly laughing, trying not to let out any noise. Meanwhile, Minato just sighed, slipping into the booth next to Rin, signaled for the restaurant attendant to come and take their orders.*

"Well, now that we're all here," here Minato sent a glare at Naruto, who just smiled, "we can catch up. How are you, Rin?"

"Pretty good, Minato-sensei," Rin replied. "I've continued learning more medical jutsus, and my training has come along nicely."

"That's good," Minato replied, pausing as the attendant came to get their orders. When everybody had ordered, they all stared at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"How can you eat that much ramen?" Rin asked, shocked. They had each ordered, a bowl of chicken for Rin, and a bowl of miso for Kakashi and Minato. Naruto, however, had gotten two bowl of miso, a bowl of pork and a bowl of chicken.

"I just can," Naruto replied. He could eat more, but he didn't want to rob his father's bank account on the first day.

"That's rather like Kushina-san," Kakashi said dryly, giving Naruto a deadpan look, "are you sure you aren't related to her rather than Minato-sensei?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto sweat-dropped, knowing that Kakashi wouldn't give up his secret to Rin that easily.

"It is true that Kushina-san has quite the appetite when it comes to ramen," Rin admitted, "but surely you can't eat as much as her, can you, Naruto?" Naruto grinned widely at that, enjoying the wary look that appeared on Rin's face.

"Actually," Naruto said, "I once ate twenty-eight bowls of ramen. In one go." His grin became a full-out smile as he saw Rin and Minato's jaws drop, and he took great pleasure in seeing Kakashi's eye pop out as far as it did.

"No way!" Rin cried. "No way you could have eaten that much! That's what Kushina-san eats!"

"How much do I eat now?" Asked a voice from behind Rin, and they all looked to see Uzumaki Kushina in the flesh, a hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised.

0o0-0o0-0o0

**Yeah, I know, lame chapter. But next the next chappie will have some of Naruto's past as Minato's twin come out, so that should be fun, yeah?**


End file.
